Democratic Northwest. [volume] (Napoleon, Ohio) 1869-1894, 1887-12-29

Ave, and mother will that sternly
Puts the nation,5 sin away.
Never sound Of martial music,
Rose as rises homes new song;
For two hundred thousand women
Make her first grand army strong.
The Supreme Court Decision.
This decision Is q landmark in the history |
Of Prohibition. Its value canuot be overee-
timated TIE defeat Of the liquor men u |
complete and overwhelming at every point |
Leaders among them frankly admit to our re- |
porters that all the Prohibition victories
heretofore gained, all combined, have not
been so depressing or disastrous 70 their in
terests as this one. To the surprise OF every
one, the Court was substantially unanimous
in its decision, seven to one-the one, Justice
Field, dissenting as to several points-and the
victory is all the more emphasized by the
fact that the Prohibition side Of the case was
unaccountably neglected by the Attorney
General of Kansas, while the liquor side IVES
cared for by several OF the ablest lawyers In
America.
The decision is nowhere evasiye. Ittouchcs
every essential point with q directness and
completeness that leave net a single loop 70
hang doubt on. The gravity Of the situa-
ton was not generally appreciated: Let 1t
be borne in mind that the cases considered had
been appealed from the decision the United
States Circuit Court In Kansas, where Judge
Brewer held that the Kansas Prohibitory
liquor law was unconstitutional, basing ms
opinion on the Fourteenth Amendment TO
the Constitution of the United States. He
held that the law was unconstitutional be-
cause IL deprived the brewers Of their prop
erty without compensation Some OF the
points raised were novel and doubtful, and
gave the Prohibitionists throughout the coun-
| try no little uneasiness. But the cloud has
tha hriOht and
glorious. How like clods on the coffin lid OF
| the doomed traffic sound these sentences
from the JUICES lips;
1.-THE right to sell liqour is not one of the
rights growing out of citizenship OF the
| United States"
| own use is subject to the restriction that It
| shall not endanger or affect the rights OF
! OTHERS. II such manufacture does preludi-
| cially affect the rights and interests OF the
community, it follows that society has the
power to protect itself by legislation against
the injurious consequences OF that business"
''There is here no justification for holding
that the State, under the guise merely OF
police regulations, is aiming to deprive the
citizen Of his constitutional rights; for We
| cannot shut out of view the fact, within the
knowledge of all, that the public health, the
public morals and the public safety may be
endangered by the general uss OF intoxicat-
. | ing QflQkSs uOE Cdu We ASuOhO bh0 AoSeg ~
taDlished by statistics, accessible to every
one, that the disorder, pauperism and crime
prevalent IN the country are, in large meas
ure, directly traceable to this evil"
''Such right 1.-THE right to manufacture
intoxicating drinksl does not inhere in citi-
zenship. Nor can it be said that Governments
i ipterferes with or impairs any ones consti-
tutional rights of liberty or Of property when
it determines that the manufacture and sale
of intoxicating drinks for general or indvld-
ual use as a beverage are or may become
hurtful to society and to every member OF
it, and is, therefore, business in which no
QUE may lawfully engage"
That there might be no evading OF the
point, the Court clinched it thus:
"Ail property in this country is held under
the implied obligation that the owners use OF
it shall not be injurious to the equal enjoy
ment Of others having an equal right to tine
enjoyment of their property, nor injurious TO
the rights of the community"
Nor it is necessary, the Court held, in order
to enjoin a place where liquor is made OF
sold, to have recourse to trial by Jury. We
can proceed against it as against any other
nuisance.
This decision is victory from beginning
to end. It clears the air. Strange OF judi
cial decision OF the highest court in America,
but it has In it the ring and cheer Of battle
shout.
The Voice.
Drunkenness and Labor Troubles,
Mr. Powderly, in a recent interview in the
New York Herald, is reported as saying
s'There is no disgrace deeper and more
marked than the disgrace that hovers around
the drunkard. They impose upon US In the
Order. They bring ON trouble between en
ployers and honest workingmen. They go tC
} work drunk, are discharged, and, soberine
: up, they appear before their assemblies and
> !, present their grievances. But one side L
heard and the complainant seems to be mucf
abused man. Are we justified in keeping
who wilfully neglect their duty as employes
and as wilfully delude their brother work
: men? Yet I myself am called upon FIRE
1 quently to take hand in the settle
ment Of labor troubles attributable II
, this cause Recently had occasion to inter
fere in a dispute of large proportions, wherein
t the hands sought to sustain one of their mum
ber who had been discharged. He had repre-
sented himself as badly treated man, ant
L had SO worked upon the feelings OF his fel
lows that they supported him at a sacrific
Of work and pay. What did he do to cause
!, discharged He went to the workshop drunk
He hung his hat up in a strange place, and
O fell down into a tub of valuable liquid, spoil
n ing it. Was that a case to make fight on
q think not" Gas have said before
: the rnm habit is one of our greatest enemies
and until we get it under control we will hav
% an uphill struggle to sustain our principle.
II deny that am an outocrat, but in on
q thing wish to be. If my word should be la'
there would be no more intemperance, an
,e with no more intemperance there would b
d tewer labor troublesh
q
d Alcohol as a Esedicine.
DR.. j. H. Hanaford, writing Of alcohol 6
= o medicine, says:
8, As an acknowledged poison it must Or,